Awake and Alive
by Neverland8
Summary: [Fantasy AU] Four children's destinies are thrust together in an attempt to stop a secret revolution. The problem is, one of them is stuck in a tower unaware of what's going on, and the others have to rescue her before someone else gets there first. Rated T because I'm paranoid, also no Pinecest or any ships so far. (Though there might be one-sided Wendip or hints of Dipcifica)
1. Prologue-We Know Better (Mabel)

**(AN: Alright, this is my first time writing a Gravity Falls Fic, so please comment and tell me what I can do better! This WILL have multiple POVs. Also, each chapter will be named after a song, and I will give the information on that song at the end of the chapter in case you want to look it up. I suggest lyrics videos on YouTube for all of them. None of the songs will have swear words or adult themes. **

**Also, this fic will update every two weeks, because the weeks imbetween updates will be devoted to my Doctor Who/Phineas and Ferb crossover, _On Top of the World_. Thank you.)**

PROLOGUE

MABEL

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION / WE KNOW BETTER

Okay, we should probably get something out of the way before our story begins, and that is that I am the Alpha Twin.

I was _totally _born before Dipper, by, like, five minutes, but I figured it was more fun to be a princess than a Queen so I let Dipper take control. Or at least, that's all you need to know on the subject. Blame the patriarchy.

Anyway, our parents and grandparents, the King, Queen, Crown Prince and Princess, died when we were really little, in some epic battle of epic, so we've been raised by our Grunkle Stanford, but I call him Stan because it's shorter, and sometimes Dad, because that's even shorter, but he gets really uncomfortable when I call him that.

My brother is Dipper, the heir of the Kingdom of Pines. We're fourteen, so we've got a good seven years until Dipdip's finally crowned King of the Land, but he always acts like he's gonna be ruler tomorrow. He takes his studies super seriously, and it drives me _bananas. _

But he's not serious enough about studies to ignore me, his perfect sister. We have a lot of fun sliding around the castle and annoying the heck out of the servants. They secretly think it's hilarious, I can tell.

The head servant is Soos, and he's been here longer than we can remember. He's about ten or so years older than us, but we have more fun with him than any of the other kids our age around the palace, mostly because they're kinda awed by our awesomeness. Dipper'll say their parents warned them to stay away from us, but he's exaggerating.

Now, fourteen is a tough time for people. Not only do we have to deal with puberty and extra lessons piled on top of everything else, fourteen is considered the "marriageable age" for most citizens. Which totally sucks. I mean, I'm all for hanging out with boys and flirting and dreaming about princes coming to sweep me off my feet, but I'm FOURTEEN. I'm not even half as tall as Soos yet, and I'm expected to marry anyone who has enough money. Come _on_!

And the thing is, Dipper doesn't have to deal with it. Sure, there've been requests for marriages, but he hasn't been informed of them as far as I know. He probably hasn't even noticed girls other than me exist. But I have to deal with boys everywhere in town I go throwing themselves at my feet and begging me to marry them, which got annoying after week two when I realized that they weren't going to go away. Dipper thinks it's funny. I do not.

Everyone thought it was weird when Stan announced that they were going let me decide who to marry. Then again, we've done weird things in the past. Like how I take the same classes as Dipper, including the traditionally masculine ones, and he also takes my traditionally feminine classes. Stan also really hates being in charge until Dipper's old enough, and lets the court make most of the decisions while he goes and plays practical jokes on the lower classes. And then there was the incident with the multi-legged cow, but we don't talk about that much.

Anywho, our story starts about two months before it actually starts. And I know that sounds really weird, but Dipper's the gifted writer, not me. Let's begin.

* * *

I run down the hall, barefoot, sliding on the floors and giggling. I managed to ditch any underdresses this morning, and am holding up my skirt with my hands, barely balancing a daisy crown on my head. "Dipper!" I yell, sliding past the hallway he happens to be walking through.

He turns around, sighing as I slide back and run down the hallway to catch up with him.

He glances down at my feet. "Are you seriously going to class without socks?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you really going to class without shoes?" I ask, dropping my skirt and pointing at his feet.

Dipper glances down, only to realize that he's only wearing his socks on his feet. "Oh my gosh!" he panics. "I can't believe-"

His eyes widen in relief when I pull his shoes seemingly out of thin air. However, they shrink into slants in anger when I hold them above his reach.

"Mabel! Give!" he says, trying to grab them.

"Hugs first." I grin.

"Mabel, we're gonna be late!" Dipper complains, trying to reach his shoes, but I hold them back.

"HUG!" I yell, and give him a huge bear hug, then tickle him in the armpit. Laughing, he manages to push me away and grab his shoes from me.

"Where are your shoes?" he asks, slipping his on.

"I burned them." I say simply, still grinning.

"Of course you did." he mutters.

Suddenly, I yell, "Attack of the Alpha twin!" and jump on Dipper. "Hugs for everyone!"

"Mabel, seriously!" Dipper groans, but cracks a grin as he tries to push me off. It eventually becomes an impromptu wrestling match, and we both end up giggling like maniacs as we try to out-hug each other.

That is, until we hear, "And to think, I normally can't wait for you to take over this Kingdom."

We separate and stare up at Grunkle Stan, who, like me, has ditched most of his royal uniform and is wearing a pretty simple outfit.

"It was Mabel's idea." Dipper says quickly.

"_Yeah_ it was!" I enthusiastically affirm.

"Look, if you're going to play games, do it outside." Stan shrugs. "You're going to break something and we're gonna have to take funds out of the royal treasury to replace it."

"We can't go outside." Dipper reminds him, smiling again. "Mabel's suitors'll all show up."

"It's not funny, Dipper." I elbow him in the ribs. "I don't want to get married yet, and nobody seems to care but you guys."

"Just stick worms up your nose." Dipper suggests. "They'll be out in ten seconds flat."

"Or just introduce them to your pig." Stan shrugs. "Or, better yet, train it to fight them off!"

"I dunno." I wince. "I'm not sure if that would work. Most of them just want the money that comes with the Kingdom anyway."

"Good point." Stan nods, thinking.

"Hey, look on the bright side." Dipper puts a hand on my shoulder. "Maybe someone'll show up who actually cares about you."

"Yeah, we just have to root out who it is." I mutter. Then, an idea forms in my head. A brilliant idea of absolute brilliance. "Hey..." I grin as Dipper and Stan exchange worried glances. "Family Meeting tonight at seven. Bring sugary food."

* * *

"I bet you're all wondering why I gathered you here today." I announce.

The occupants of the family meeting include me, Dipper, Stan, Soos and Waddles. Soos shows up to make sure family disputes don't get out of hand (and plus we like him), and Waddles is my pig. He normally sits by me, but since I'm standing at the front of the table he's sitting with Dipper, who doesn't look very comfortable with this arrangement. He'll get over it.

"Not really." Stan shrugs.

"I'm worried to." Dipper admits.

"Kinda." Soos nods.

Waddles makes a cute oinking sound.

"Well, I was thinking about how to find a suitor who actually cares about me, and not the power and makeovers that come with me." I say.

"We're all doomed." Stan stage-whispers to Dipper and Soos.

I pretend not to hear. "So I call this the DRAGON INITIATIVE."

"Definitely doomed!" Dipper yells, falling over at the mention of a dragon. Our future king, everybody.

"Let me explain." I say, very dignified in posture and voice. "We all know dragons will do anything for gold. Very much like Grunkle Stan. So we promise a nice dragon a whole mess of gold if he keeps me in a tower for two months. We spread the word I've been kidnapped, and the suitors'll either run away, or get their butts kicked by a dragon. Eventually either none will be left, or one shows up who actually cares, and then I'm either married to a good person or free, and honestly either's good with me. Questions, comments, snide remarks?"

"There are a million things that can go wrong with this plan." Stan says. "Way to think outside the box."

"I like it." Soos grins.

Dipper looks concerned. "How'll you root out who actually cares for you and who just wants the glory of beating a dragon?"

"I dunno, I've only been working at this plan for twelve hours or so." I shrug.

Dipper still looks worried. "Mabel, are you sure this'll be safe?"

"Trust me, I'll be fine, Dipper. I can take care of myself." I think of how many times I've beaten him in combat lessons, and grin.

"Okay, one last question." Dipper nods. "How'll we explain it to the Kingdom when you miraculously appear unscathed from a dragon's lair without rescue? Not many people will believe you defeated a dragon by yourself."

"Well that's where you come in, brother dear." I smile even wider. "_You're_ going to save me from the dragon."

The following exclamations he yells I'm not going to repeat, but the gist of the rest of the plan is that Dipper goes and pays the Dragon, then brings me back and says he saved me. I can't marry my brother, so I'll be free to do whatever I want.

I eventually convince everyone to go with the plan, which takes a lot of talking and promises and soon all the cookies Soos's grandmother made us are gone.

The plan is put into action soon after that, and we find a nice Dragon named William who agreed to this idea with the promise of gold. After a long goodbye with Stan, Waddles and Soos, and an even longer one with Dipper where he keeps reminding me of things not to do, we arrive at William's hoard, which he calls the Mystery Tower.

It's only when Willie shuts the door on my chambers and I drop my bag on the floor I realize there could possibly be some flaws in my brilliant plan of brilliance.

* * *

**Song Title: We Know Better (Outtake)**

**Artist: Kristen Anderson-Lopez**

**Album: Frozen (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Deluxe Edition]**

**Lyric that best fits the chapter: "No one can tell us what a prince(ss) should be / As long as we're together, you and me"**

**Lyric that best fits the fic: "One, Two, Three, Together / Clap together, snap together / You and me together / Knees together, freeze together / up or down together / prince(ss) crown together / Always be together, you and me"**


	2. Elastic Heart (Dipper)

CHAPTER ONE

DIPPER

ELASTIC HEART

I _really _hate my sister.

Now you're probably wondering why we're suddenly talking about me. Isn't this Mabel's story? Well, actually, no, it's mine. Mine and a few friends you'll meet later. But I guess Mabel's in there, too.

So one thing I should probably get out of the way- MABEL'S PLAN SUCKS. There are so many flaws there that after she left Soos and I made a long, long list, cause I couldn't get it out of my head and had to write it out. As if I don't have enough things to worry about. I still have lessons in preparation to be King one day, which is going to be a complete nightmare. I can't even convince my sister to not wander into a Dragon's lair, how on earth am I gonna rule a kingdom? Maybe I'll take after Grunkle Stan and hide while I let the court decide everything.

Anyway, we let William fly Mabel to his lair, so we didn't have to go very far, and could act like we had _no clue_ that the Princess was kidnapped by a Dragon. Like Mabel predicted, a bunch of suitors mysteriously vanished when this news came out. A bunch went out to fight the dragon and never got back, so we just assume they failed and slunk away to their kingdoms, if they survived at all.

Meanwhile, the Kingdom was freaking out, Grunkle Stan really needed some acting lessons, and I'd been counting down the days until Mabel had been gone two months.

Like, yeah, I hate her, but it's a sibling kinda hate, y'know? It's pretty boring here without her.

I wonder how she's doing all the time. Is she bored? Is she tired? Is she hyper? Annoying the heck out of a dragon? Who knows?

Finally, the day arrives when I can bring Mabel home. Stan and Soos give me a quick runthrough on which creatures not to talk to and where not to go and yadayadayada. "And remember," Stan concludes as he slips the Dragon's payment- a highly expensive and very shiny crown- into a secret pocket in an old cloak we're borrowing from a servant boy- "The last thing you want to do is tick off either the Dragon or royalty. Just don't be rude to anyone and you'll be fine."

Since it would be problematic for the prince of Pines to go anywhere without an escort, and the Knights probably wouldn't approve of me just bribing the dragon into letting Mabel out, I wear a servant's outfit that's a little big on me, and sneak out a secret passage. The only things I have are a bag of gold in the outer pockets, a bag full of schoolbooks for the road and a sword on a belt, which I quickly put in the bag because it keeps banging against my leg. As soon as I leave the castle, however, I immediately regret everything about this plan.

* * *

I never liked the world outside.

Talking to people is always awkward for me, and me being royalty makes it even worse. Thankfully, I'm now disguised as one of the lower class citizens, so they didn't pay much attention to me. I wander for a bit until I reached some sort of Inn. I open the door to peek inside, and catch a glimpse of the middle of a fight going on in the waiting room.

Shutting the door quick, I turn around. "Well, that's out of the question." I mutter.

It probably sounds wimpy. There I was, about to "face off" with a dragon, and I was intimidated by a bunch of dudes punching each other in an enclosed space. But hey, would you go in there?

I travel for a bit more until nightfall, where I sleep under a willow tree on the edge of a forest trail, trying very hard not to attract wild animals. Cause I may have a sword, but I have no idea how to use it.

The next day I travel through a forest trail, stopping every few feet to take a break. Sorry, Mabel, I haven't been outside much.

Anyway, trouble comes around dusk, when I got bored and started kicking my feet and watching the dust patterns. I've already come up with twelve new poems and recited them to myself, and taken a break around noon to eat the day-old apple and do a bit of schoolwork. Why I still have to do schoolwork while on a quest to save my sister is still beyond me.

And I totally wish Mabel was here with me. It'd be great if she was bouncing around and annoying me and telling me to pay attention to her. It sounds strange, but I guess I've really been missing her these past few months.

The point is, I'm not paying attention to really anything around me until someone puts a knife to my throat.

* * *

In my defense, he came up behind me. All the sudden, I feel a cold breath on the back of my neck and someone reaches out from behind me and put a knife to my throat. "Don't move." the stranger tells me. "Or you'll regret it."

"Okay." I say in a voice much higher than Mabel would ever let me live down.

All I can think is _How could I have been so stupid? I should've been more alert. You've failed Mabel and now you're going to die. _

"Search him." says another voice.

The first guy adjusts the knife, and then takes off my cloak and searches through it, while someone else behind me rifles through my bag. I feel a sense of anger- _how dare they go through my bag?_\- but also a growing sense of dread. There is no way they're just going to let me go, is there? I bite my lip and _really _hope they've never seen me before and don't know who I am. Cause that would just suck.

"Nothing but old schoolbooks." the second voice says.

"He's got a bit of gold in his pockets." the first voice doubtfully explains. I try hard not to breathe a sigh of relief- they haven't found the dragon's payment.

One of them picks me up by the scruff of the neck and hangs the back of my shirt on a branch, so I'm left dangling, looking at the thieves. They look like what you'd expect thieves to look like- covered in a dark cloak, and pretty tough and muscular. Or at least, that's how I always pictured thieves.

"What else have you got?" the first one asks, playing with his knife in his fingers.

"N-nothing." I stutter, again in a very high voice. Some king I'll make.

"I don't believe you." the first thief says. "So you've got three seconds to tell us what you've got hidden somewhere. One."

I struggle on the branch, kicking at the air. No luck.

"Two."

I reach for my sword in my belt, then realize I had left my belt in my school bag. "Are you _kidding _me?" I mutter to myself.

"Thr-"

"HEY UGLY!"

The thieves turn to look behind them, and I stare forward.

A small girl, about my age, stands behind us. She has shoulder-length blonde hair and long bangs, and her blue eyes stare daggers into the burglars. She has a purple cloak on, which she grips tightly around her. "Yeah, you!" she yells. "What gives you the right to pick on a little kid?"

"A-actually I'm fourteen. Technically an adult." I mutter, though nobody's paying attention.

"What gives you the right to rob _anyone_?" she asks, anger bubbling in her eyes. "Go work for your money like everyone else."

"Who are you to tell us what to do?" a thief asks, smirking. "You're just a little girl."

"I AM FOURTEEN YEARS OLD!" the girl yells. "Do you want a fight? Is that it? Cause I'll fight you!"

The thieves smirk at each other, then whistle.

Instantly, three more tough guys crawl out of the woods behind my tree, flipping daggers of their very own.

A flicker of fear falls into the girl's eyes. She hadn't expected so many. "Corduroy!" she yells, stumbling backwards, still gripping her cloak. "Corduroy!"

A thief laughs. "What, you expect a man to come and save you?"

He stops laughing when an arrow lodges in his leg.

He crumples to the ground, howling with pain. I look up, and see a shadowed figure perched on a tree a little farther away. The figure jumps down, landing right in front of the wounded thief, grabbed the arrow and then stabbed it in the other leg for good measure. The figure is dressed in all black from head to toe. Ripping off a hood, letting long auburn locks fall across her face, a woman kicks the guy over.

"Not exactly." she says, throwing off her black cloak to reveal a black shirt and breeches, and a black belt filled with swords and daggers. She grabs a long sword and leaps at another thief, hair flying in a long ponytail.

The flicker of fear that the blonde girl showed dissapears instantly as she removes her cloak to reveal a uniform similar to the older girl's, except with only one dagger. Using this, she jumps into the fray.

The battle would seem to be favoring the thieves, but in reality there was no hope for them. The auburn girl knocks out two at once with a roundhouse kick and a few quick blows with the butt of a sword. The blonde girl manages to trip one over while he was charging, then hit him with a rock to knock him out cold. The last thief grabs his friend with the arrow in the leg and flees. The blonde girl raises her dagger, but the auburn girl shakes her head and puts a hand on the blondie's shoulder. "Not worth it." she tells her. "But it might be fun to tie these guys up and hang them upside-down from a tree in their underwear."

The blondie grins. "Yeah!"

The auburn girl's face suddenly shifts from humorous to dead serious. "Pas, I told you not to pick fights. You're still not done training and if you get hurt-"

"I wasn't picking a fight!" Pas argues. "They were threatening this boy, and you were out finding a campsite, so-"

They turn to me. I probably have a super impressive face on, and by that I mean I'm so in awe that my mouth has dropped all the way open and I mutter something like "Um..."

The auburn girl lifts me down to the ground. "Sorry bout that." she says. "I'm Wendy. This is my little problem, Pacifica."

The blonde nods at me. I'm still a little in shock. "H-how..." I ask.

"I've been training in combat since I could eat solid food." Wendy shrugs. "It's as natural as walking. I've been teaching Pas here for two years, and I think she's starting to get the hang of it."

I think hard. I've heard the name Pacifica before, but I'm not sure where.

Wendy tosses me my schoolbag and bag of coins. "These are yours." she says. Then she picks a dagger up from the ground where a thief dropped it. "Hey, Pas, heads up!" she calls and tosses Pacifica the dagger. Pacifica catches it and puts it in another pocket with her own dagger.

"Sweet!" she mutters.

"Well, you best get going." Wendy says to me. "We've got a lot of work to do. Pulling pranks on unconscious thieves, setting up camp, finding where I dropped my axe, and I'm sure you've got somewhere to be."

I shake my head, not wanting to be left alone again anytime soon. "What? I- I can't go yet! That was _awesome_! You fight better than anyone I've seen!"

Wendy smirks. "Yeah, I know." she narrows her eyes. "Hey, Pas, doesn't he look familiar?"

Pacifica looks hard at me, then her eyes widen in recognition. "Oh." she mutters.

"Uh, yeah." I scratch the back of my neck awkwardly. "I'm Dipper, hi."

"Like, Prince Dipper?" Wendy asks. "Nice for you. Didn't your sister just get kidnapped by a dragon?"

"Uh, something like that." I mutter, a little relieved that at least one of them's not bugged about me being royalty. "I'm just heading over to the Mystery Tower and-"

"Wait, isn't that on the border of the Gleeful and Pines kingdoms?" Pacifica asks.

"Something like that."

"We're heading in that direction." the blonde explains. "We've got a job offer near there."

"Great!" I say a little too quickly. "I mean, um, we could, like, travel together maybe?"

The girls glance at each other, having a conversation with their eyes.

"I can pay you." I offer. "I won't be too much of a bother."

"You don't have to pay us." Wendy waves her hand. "We get most of our food from the fort anyway."

"But I thought you said you had a-"

"Job offers are just for fun." Wendy explains. "We just want to know if we can trust you."

"Prove you're not a Northwest spy." Pacifica instructs.

Something rings a bell in my head, but I don't have time to figure out what. So I ask the obvious question, "Why would I be spying for the Northwest Kingdom? The Gravity Falls Alliance was founded in 982 to make sure that none of the neighboring Kingdoms would have to spy on or fight each other."

A quick look between the girls. Then, "Too smart to be from the Northwest." Wendy nods. "Now, before we set up camp, are we gonna prank these guys or what?"

* * *

**Song Title: Elastic Heart (feat. The Weeknd &amp; Diplo)**

**Artist: Sia**

**Album: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Deluxe Edition]**

**Lyric that best fits this chapter: "And I will stay up through the night / Let's be clear, I won't close my eyes / And I know that I can survive / I walked through fire to save my life"**

**Lyric that best fits this fic: "Well I've got a thick skin and an elastic heart / But your blade it might be too sharp / I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard / But I may snap when I move close / But you won't see me fall apart / Cause I've got an elastic heart"**


	3. Titanium (Pacifica)

CHAPTER TWO

PACIFICA

TITANIUM

I glance over my shoulder at the boy trailing behind us. He looks more and more nervous as we head over to where Wendy had pitched the tent. She has her bow slung over her shoulder and is counting her swords to make sure they're all still there. I glance down. _One. Two. Done. _Wendy and I collect weapons from outlaws who try to hurt others. However, this is the first time one the victims actually wanted to stay with us. The others always took off running.

Prince Dipper keeps lagging behind and tripping over small objects, while rifling through his bag and cloak to make sure we didn't leave anything behind. I try not to watch- it's his business- but I keep hearing him mutter things under his breath as he runs into things. He's obviously not been in the forest too long. I look up at Wendy and whisper to her, "You really think we should let him tag along with us?"

Wendy glances down at me briefly, then back at the road. "He'll be fine. Reminded me of you two years ago."

I glance down at the ground. "Alright then." I nod. "Guess you did me good. It's just that he's not staying. He's just off to find his sister, remember?"

Wendy smirks. "Sure." she mutters.

She pushes aside some bushes and reveals a small, quiet field. She's pitched two tents, and made a small fire. Our small bag of food and extra weapons are in the second tent, and our sleep stuff is in the first. "I can move our weapons outside the tent and you can sleep in there." Wendy offers. "You have any dinner with you?"

Dipper looks confused. "Um… no, not really, sorry, I can-"

"It's cool." Wendy shrugs, and grabs her bow. "I'll just shoot a duck or something. Be right back." She heads off into the woods silently, leaving us alone.

Dipper looks at me, then goes and drags a log by the fire. It takes him a while, but he manages to do it, and sits down impatiently. I sit on the other edge of the log, pretty far from him, but he still tenses up, as if the mere presence of a human being scares him. Wendy comes back only a few minutes later, and roasts a duck on the fire. Dipper scoots farther away from us, and doesn't eat very much of his duck. Eventually, Wendy gives me a glare, and I make conversation. "So, you're off to save your sister."

"Yeah." Dipper nods. "There's a story behind that."

He explains to us his sister's plan to escape suitors. Wendy gives me a sharp glance as he's talking, but I just shake my head and listen closely. Mabel's plan was smart; the problem is, Dipper doesn't think so. "I mean, who on earth has that problem where they have too _many_ suitors?"

It takes me a few seconds to process the fact that he's not being sarcastic. Wendy gets to that conclusion around the same time, and we both exchange surprised looks before staring at Dipper. "How long have you been in the real world?" Wendy asks.

Dipper awkwardly scratches his arm. "Um, about… two days?"

"Man, you were definitely cooped up." Wendy shrugs, sharpening her axe on a rock and making Dipper jump. "What, you weren't allowed outside or something?"

"Well, yeah… in the palace courtyard." Dipper looks, embarrassed, at his feet. "Or during special occasions like holidays and stuff. Sometimes we'd sneak out, but we'd be recognized pretty quick and then we'd be under strict watch for months. So we mostly contented ourselves playing in the secret passageways and tending to Mabel's garden. But… you know, it's not like my life's that interesting. What do you guys do?"

Wendy and I once again exchange glances, wondering how much to tell him and how much to leave out. "Well, I ran away from home two years ago." I shrug.

"Why-" he starts, but I keep going, pretending not to hear his interruption.

"Wendy rescued me from bounty hunters only a few days later. I was pretty suckish about staying hidden."

"I'd moved out by then." Wendy shrugs, barely glancing up. "So I said I'd help her until she learned the basics."

"She cut my hair and got me a good disguise." I continue. "And then she started teaching me basic fighting. And after a while, I guess we kinda forgot about the whole 'separating' part of the arrangement."

"We've saved each other's lives several times." Wendy explains. "I guess we kinda look out for each other."

"So we kinda adopted each other as sisters. That's our cover story whenever we run into people, anyway. We're two lumberjack sisters who just want to travel."

"But what _do_ you do?" Dipper asks, confused.

"We travel around and keep criminals at bay." Wendy shrugs. "We figured, if nobody else is gonna do it, why not two unmarried teenage outcast females?"

"With a crapton of weapons." I add, smirking.

"Cool." Dipper's eyes widen, and it's nice for once to meet a boy who doesn't make a big deal out of us being girls. Maybe Mabel's influenced him in that respect.

"Right, let's get to sleep." Wendy says, putting her axe down. "We've got a long day in the morning. Dipper, your tent's on the left. Just dump the weapons outside Pas, you'll take the right one."

"You gonna sleep in a tree again?" I ask.

"Duh." Wendy says, starting to climb up one. "When do I not?"

Sometimes Wendy baffles me, to be honest. I glance at Dipper as he struggles to carry even one sword out of his tent, and sigh. We're gonna have a lot of work to do.

* * *

I don't realize I'm in a dream. What I do see is _them_. They're standing right in front of me, and I step back. I know where this is. The thing is, I've never relived memories in dreams. This is the first time.

"Please just leave me alone!" I yell, covering my head and bracing myself for what's to come.

Then the ice-cold winter hits me, and I'm no longer at my old home. I'm half-buried in snow, crying and digging around for my food bag, lost forever in the white wasteland. My tears freeze before they hit the ground. I pull my cloak tighter around me, and feel a hand lift me off of the ground and throw me in the other direction. "That's her!" one of the men in front of me says excitedly. "That's definitely her!"

"Please go away!" I plead. "I've got money!"

"Your parents have more." another man raises an eyebrow.

That's when he's hit upside the head with the butt of a sword, and Wendy's there, fending off four men at once, and then helping me to my feet, and giving me her cloak for extra warmth. "You're literally freezing out here." she observes. "I know a good abandoned house we can stay in. But just one night, you got it?"

I'm too tired to argue anyway.

Then something even weirder happens. I'm in a grayed-out hut, with doors down the hallways. "Hello?" I ask, reaching for a dagger. It's not there, but there's one at my feet, which I grab and whirl around.

"Relax, I'm just delivering a message." a voice says. "And don't turn around."

At that, I immediately whip around to see a blur fly away. "Gotcha." he laughs. "Anywho, the one thing you need to know is Shooting Star is imperative to your mission. Save the Star."

"What mission? Who's Shooting Star?" I demand, trying to find the source of the ruckus.

"You'll find out, child of fire." the voice says again. "You'll find out all too soon."

I throw the dagger at a random direction, hoping to make a hit. Unfortunately, that's when I fade back into the realm of pointless dreams.

* * *

**Song Title: Titanium**

**Artist: Madilyn Bailey**

**Album Title: The Covers, Vol. 2**

**Lyric that best fits this chapter: "I'm bulletproof / Nothing to lose / Fire away, fire away..."**

**Lyric that best fits this fic: "You shoot me down / But I won't fall / I am titanium"**


	4. Centuries (Wendy)

**(AN: Thank you so much for your amazing reviews! Sorry the update is a day late, but I was at a Government Camp for the week. It was quite fun, but now I'm back! And if a certain group of people in the chapter seems "out of character", I have two notes.**

**1\. It's an AU.**

**2\. I never specifically stated which group they are, nor whether or not they're in the original show.**

**I only realized that this might be a problem while re-reading this, but it's a little late to fix it. So, here you go!**

**And also, next chapter will be another MABEL POV! I do love those.)**

CHAPTER THREE

WENDY

CENTURIES

Pacifica goes to sleep quickly. I can hear we steady breathing in the tent below me. Dipper takes a while to get comfortable; his shadow moves rapidly against the tent walls as he tosses and turns. He's probably worried about his sister; I can relate to that. I wonder almost every day how my brothers are doing without me. Whether they're still…

I shake my head. "Stop, Wendy, stop." I whisper to myself. "Don't think about it. It's in the past, over, doesn't matter."

Besides, Pas would hate me if she knew. And so would everybody else. I sigh and tie myself to the tree with a tight rope; don't want to fall down. I scan the trunk, looking. I put a hand on the acorn around my neck, feeling the frayed ribbon holding it in place with my fingers.

No use dwelling on the past, but I can remember the good parts on occasion.

* * *

I wake up early the next day, and untie myself. Clapping my hands as I jump from the tree, I yell, "Okay, time to pack it up! We've gotta move out!"

Pas wakes up with a start and immediately begins rolling up her tent. Dipper groans as he sits up. "What time is it?" he asks.

"No use telling the time." I shrug. "But the sun's up, so you should be too."

"Wow, it's like Mabel's right here with us." Dipper mocks, yawning. "She used to say almost the exact same thing."

"Get moving." I order. "Our job offer won't wait for us forever."

"What even _is_ your job offer?" Dipper asks, trying and failing to collapse his tent.

I come over to show him how to do it properly. As I work, I explain, "Some village on the edge of Gleeful has been ransacked by bandits recently, and they keep coming back. We're heading over to teach them a lesson."

"Yeah, it'll be sweet!" Pas grins, shouldering her bag and grasping her rolled up tent in her opposite arm. "We haven't been to Gleeful yet."

"So you guys are, like, sheriffs for hire or something?" he summarizes last night's discussion.

"Pretty much sums it up." I shrug. "You carry the tent. I'll get our weapons and food."

"Ever heard of traveling light?" Dipper asks as he tries to shoulder his bag and the rolled-up tent.

"Nope." I grin. "Come on! Are we gonna save your sister before or after next year?"

Dipper sighs. "I'm starting to rethink traveling with you."

"Good." I nod. "You'd be insane if you weren't."

* * *

"To your left! Your _left_, Pacifica!"

Pas holds the sword out, thrusting it in the direction I'm yelling. She struggles to move with a blindfold, and trips on a root. "Wendy, there aren't very good odds of me going blind anytime soon."

"Anything can happen." I say, sharpening a dagger against a rock. "Keep using your other senses."

We've taken a mid-day break. While Dipper ate lunch, Pas and I snuck off to practice fighting techniques. She's currently fighting blind, which I learned when I was about her age. Come to think of it, I didn't like it so much either.

I hear a rustle behind me, and look around. Dipper is shyly peering through the bushes. "Want to join?" I ask, and he slowly comes out.

"Um, I dunno..." he shuffles his feet. "I was never very good at it at the castle."

"Fine, we'll start with the basics." I shrug. "Pas, c'mere."

Pacifica gladly takes her blindfold off and throws it to the ground. She comes over to Dipper as I'm giving him one of my smaller swords. "It's pretty light." I explain. "You'll do fine, just fight Pas."

Dipper looks even more worried than before. "I'm not so sure that's a good ide-"

Pas charges at him with her sword. Dipper barely manages to block it, swiveling on his feet. She jabs her sword at his stomach. He jumps and swings his sword as he's about to come down. Pas blocks it by putting hers over her head, and Dipper lands behind her. She turns to attack while he's still dazed, and kicks his feet out from under him. He holds his sword up to block attacks, but she kicks his weapon out of his hands, and it soars away.

"Not bad." she says. "Most boys would've been down by my second move."

"You can do better." I say, now hanging upside-down from a tree.

He nods and stands up. "So what now?"

I jump down. "Well, now I sta-" I stop speaking as a scream is heard behind us.

"What is that?" Dipper yells.

"I dunno, but let's go find out." I say. I lead the way, following the source of the noise behind me. I push through bushes and duck under trees, and thankfully the person keeps yelling so I know where to go.

"Ow!" I can hear Dipper yell behind us. "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Keep it down!" Pacifica orders.

I stop just short of a clearing, and look ahead. A young boy is cornered by a Gremoblin against a tree. "Pas?" I ask.

"Gremoblin. We just need him to look at his reflection and we can get through this without killing." she reviews. "Dipper, can you be a distraction?"

"Oh yeah, cause that's the job of all future Kings of the biggest kingdom in the Alliance." he mutters back. "We only exist to be human sacrifices."

"Wait!" I hold up my hand.

Someone approaches the monster from behind. Thier cloak obscures their face, and they shout something at the creature. The Gremoblin turns, and catches sight of a mirror the person holds up. They flee howling into the wilderness.

"Well, that was simple." Pas says.

Dipper makes a move to leave the safety of the bushes, but I block him with my hand. "Hold up."

The boy turns to thank the cloaked stranger, but the man instead grabs the boy by the arm and drags him away.

"Where are they going?" Pas asks.

"Let's see." I say, and slowly follow the figures' path through the woods.

* * *

"Inside the cave." I point out the trampled grass around the entrance to the gaping cavern. "Be careful, we don't know who this could be."

"Looks like some crazy guy who saves the lives of random people and then drags them into a cave." Dipper shrugs. "So what're we gonna do about it?"

"We're gonna rescue the boy." Pas explains, rolling her eyes. "Are we going in or what?"

We head in silently, each with a hand on some sort of weapon. To my surprise, Dipper manages to keep up pretty well. "I figured you'd be tripping over everything in the dark." I finally admit, but quietly.

"Mabel and I used to wander around secret passages in the castle." he shrugs. "We… We got kinda good at it."

Pacifica shushes us. "I hear voices." she explains.

I mentally slap myself for not hearing the voices first. I push the kids behind me and keep walking, one arm out to block them if somebody should jump out at us. I draw my sword as we get closer to a bend, and lantern-light casts shadows across the wall.

Dipper prods me in the back, and I turn around. He points at a gap in the passage wall, which is also streaming light. I nod and duck over there, peering through, while the kids crowd around and try to hear what's going on.

I can't see much, only a few puffs of smoke against darkness, and the odd bobbing lantern light. But I can hear what they're saying. At first, it sounds like gibberish. "Retinentia deleo. Retinentia deleo." But Pas's face goes pale.

"What is it?" I ask, worried.

"Sorcery." she whispers. "We... we used to have sorcerers in the Northwest Kingdom... I'd recognize it anywhere."

I decide not to ask; Pas is very shy about her years in her old kingdom. I give a glare to the Prince next to her to keep him silent. "What spell is it? Do you know?" I ask.

Pas nods quietly. "Memory-erasing. If I'm not mistaken, they're erasing the boy's memory, probably of the monster, but mostly of them. The way the words are inflicted- how it starts out deep but manages to get very high-pitched by the end- the spell is probably self-referencing."

"Great." Dipper rolls his eyes and whispers, "I guess I've gotta be the moving target now, too."

"It doesn't seem like they're hurting him." I respond, shrugging. "So long as their magic doesn't turn against him, it shouldn't be-"

"Magic is evil." Dipper interrupts, visibly upset. "It's destructive and does no good."

"Says the unsocialised child." I retort, then try to see through the smoke again.

"I'm _not_ a child!" Dipper responds, but Pacifica elbows him to shut him up.

I strain to hear if they're saying anything new. After a few moments, the chanting stops and someone does say something different. "That's the fifth mind we've had to wipe this week. Our experiments keep escaping. We need to keep them in their prison."

"Their dungeon doesn't seem to hold them." another answers. "Some have finally integrated, but the others keep trying to escape back here. We're going to have to speed up our plan."

"But there's no reason for the Kingdoms to turn against each other now!" one person with a faintly recognizable voice sputters. "We need a good excuse to start a war!"

We glance at each other as the men keep talking. "Good excuse? Oh, we'll make one alright."

"How?"

"Easy enough." the man who seems to be the leader responds. "We're all well acquainted with Princess Mabel's disappearance, aren't we?"

Dipper gasps and Pacifica stuffs a fist in his mouth to shut him up.

As the others finish muttering affirmations, the leader continues. "Some say she's been taken by a dragon. So, if we control the dragon, we control the Princess. You-" he must be making a gesture here- "get our army and capture the dragon. Start rumors that other Kingdoms have her, and the civil war begins. You, you and you, stir up more trouble between the kingdoms if you can. And you, get the boy somewhere."

"But, what do we do with the Princess once we have her?" someone finally asks. "She's a feisty one, and I should know."

"She can't be allowed to speak of us. And you know our powers are no match for hers." the leader responds. "Dump her body on one of the Kingdom borders after a week or so."

Dipper struggles against Pas, beating against her with his weak arms. He looks furious, and downright dangerous. He reaches for his sword, and I tackle him to the ground. "Shut up!" I whisper to him. "Shut up! We've gotta get out! They're gonna find us! You can't protect Mabel if you're dead!"

Dipper settles, but his eyes burn with a fire I've never seen before. "Move." I whisper. "Before they come to see what all that noise was about."

* * *

We race out of the cave and towards the forest. Once out in the open, Dipper keeps tripping over stuff, but he no longer notices. He looks anxious, nervous, furious and hostile at the same time, which I wouldn't have thought possible.

We stop at our temporary campsite, and sit down. I glance between the two of them. "Well… did not expect that."

"Mabel…" Dipper mutters. "They're gonna kill Mabel…"

"So we've gotta get to her first." Pas shrugs. "We'll camp somewhere farther away. We've gotta keep moving if we wanna reach Gleeful in time. If we push it, we might be able to make it in a week."

Dipper looks up, a hardened gaze in his eyes. "We've gotta find her." he says. "I… I don't know what I'd do without her."

I put an arm around him; Pas has told me before that this is a sign of affection. "Hey, it's alright, man. We'll get her. The question is-" I stand up, "Why are they trying to start a war?"

"And what did they mean by 'experiments'?" Pas asks.

"We can find out after we get Mabel out of there." Dipper suggests. "Our number one priority right now is saving my sister."

* * *

**Song Title: Centuries**

**Artist: Fall Out Boy**

**Album Title: American Beauty / American Psycho**

**Lyric that best fits this chapter: "We've been here forever / And here's the frozen proof / I could scream forever / We are the poisoned youth"**

**Lyric that best fits this fic: "And you're a cherry blossom / You're about to bloom / You look so pretty, but you're gone so soon… And just one mistake / Is all it will take / We'll go down in history"**


	5. Shooting Star (Mabel)

**(AN: I'm SO sorry this is late! I forgot on Friday and Saturday was super hectic! Anyway, here's a Mabel-POV to make up for it.)**

CHAPTER FOUR

MABEL

SHOOTING STAR

"So, I'm Mabel. You've probably forgotten again." I say to the Dragon, while knitting myself a new dress.

"Yeah." he nods.

"And you're… Liam!"

"William, according to you."

"Liam can be short for William."

"I was Willis last week."

"I changed my mind." I shrug. "So… what's it like, being a dragon?"

Liam looks at me, tired. "Every few days I steal some food, but mostly I just sit and look over my hoard. If I get too bored, I go scare some villagers. It's hysterical."

"That _does_ sound fun! But don't you, like, kidnap princesses more often?" I ask, lying on my stomach and kicking my feet.

"Are you serious? How many princesses do you think there are?" he laughs. His laugh sounds like a choking roar. "The whole 'kidnap princess' thing is just a rumor spread by people who fear us. I think you're the first princess to be kidnapped since… well, before the human Alliance began, I suppose."

"You know about the Gravity Falls Alliance?" I ask, astonished. "Did you learn about it in Dragon School?"

"Dragons don't go to school." Liam rolls his eyes. "We leave the home soon as we're old enough to eat solid food, and then we teach ourselves."

"Sounds fascinating." I say, eyes widening.

"And all creatures with half a brain cell know about the Gravity Falls Alliance."

"Why?"

"Well, that's our little secret, isn't it?"

"Oh, c'mon, you're not being fun!"

"I'm a dragon. I'm not supposed to be fun."

"Since when did being a dragon keep someone from having fun?"

"We're very serious beasts. Besides, my idea of fun is burning a village to the ground, but I doubt you'd enjoy that."

I shake my head, frowning slightly. "But, you know, we could always-"

"Shut up a second." Liam says, holding his tail up. I obey, and hear a slight hissing behind to the left of us.

"What do you think it is?" I ask, tilting my head to look in that direction.

"Dragonbite Viper." he spits, his pupils dilating a little bit. "You might want to stay where you are. Those things can kill even dragons. We should probab- _What on earth are you-_"

"Shh!" I say, having dropped my needles and edging towards the hissing to get a better look. It takes a few seconds to actually see the movement. The viper is golden, and I can barely make it out among the treasure around it, but it is moving slowly towards Liam. "Stay still. It won't attack if you're still." I mutter.

"I knew _that._" the Dragon mutters, and eyes the viper out of the corner of its eye. "I want it out."

"Alright, then." I mutter, circling around behind the snake, hoping that if some sort of treasure falls from the mound it won't alert the Viper to my presence. While I'm travelling, I grab what I have of my sweater- a sleeve- and circle behind the snake. The Viper's attention is fixed on Liam, hissing slightly. _This better work, or I'm dead._ I think, hoping beyond hope that this'll work. Liam seems to be getting edgy, slowly backing away from the snake. It's actually kind of funny to see something so massive afraid of something so tiny.

Suddenly, I'm right behind the Viper. The snake hisses threateningly, and I take a step back. However, the viper's eyes are on the Dragon, and starts to slither towards him.

"Ha!" I yell, and jump forward, sliding the sleeve over the snake's face. The viper hisses its displeasure and spits holes in the fabric, thrashing around wildly. Seeing my chance, I grab it by its tail and toss him towards the opening. I miss, and the snake lands a few feet from the exit.

"Oops."

However, once the sweater melts, the snake hisses again and slithers away. "I guess he didn't really want to attack, then." I say, shrugging a bit. "Maybe he just wanted out."

"Or maybe he sensed he wasn't wanted." Liam responds. "That was extremely dangerous."

"But it worked." I respond, smiling up at him.

He sighs. "Yes, I suppose it did."

I pump a fist in the air. "Whoo-hoo! Big scary dragon approves!"

"I didn't- nevermind." Liam settles back on a pile of treasure. "When's your brother coming to get you, again?"

"Pretty soon, I think." I respond, climbing up next to him. "Maybe in a couple of days?"

He hesitates for a second, then says, "Well, since you saved my life, I guess I owe you a favor."

"Oh, you don't have to do that." I say. "We're friends, it's what we do."

"We're not friends." he responds. "And I don't like owing people. Just take something out of my hoard, and then we're even."  
I'm not really sure that's even, but I nod. "Yeah, sounds fair." I slide down the pile and head over to the section of un-shiny things, which are stashed in a corner. He doesn't really want to show these off, I assume. There are a few outfits in the corner, next to a pile of books and scrolls. A few toys litter the floor around it, and a wooden bow or two. A strange circle made of wood leans against the wall. I brush some dust off of it to see a few symbols etched on the edges.

"I got that in a trade." says Liam's voice behind me. "It's supposed to prophesy the end of days or something, but I can't make heads or tails of it."

"Meh, it's probably not important." I say, moving on until my eyes fall on a length of rope. I gasp and grab it.

"What'd you find?" The dragon asks, washing me warily.

"GRAPPLING HOOK!" I yell, showing off my find. "I'll take this!"

The dragon looks at me strangely. "Wouldn't you rather have a dress or something?"

I throw the grappling hook onto a ledge in the cave wall, and it attaches to a rock. I climb up the rope as fast as I can, becoming level with the dragon's eyes. "Grappling Hook." I say.

"Alright then." He growls, leaning over.

Suddenly, the hook goes over the rock, falling to the floor. I start to fall, too, and let out a yell. Quick as a flash, Liam leaps from his treasure pile and slides under me, breaking my fall. I sit on the scales, and slowly start to breathe normally again. He tilts his head and slides me off, and I land safely on the ground.

"Th-thanks." I say, coiling up the Grappling Hook's rope.

Liam watches me, with a spark of concern in his eyes, before staring off at a wall. "I don't get paid if you die, remember? Now go to sleep."

* * *

Sleep comes easily, but the dreams are terrible.

I hear screams around me. People are falling to the ground, bleeding, dying. I stand still, terrified.

Dipper runs up to me. "Stop them, Mabel!" he yells.

"I- I can't! I don't know how!" I yell.

"You know all the answers, Mabel!" Dipper yells. "You always do!"

"Please stop!" I say, falling to my knees and covering my ears, trying to block out the screams of pain. "Dipper, stop!"

"Listen to your head!" he yells.

"I CAN'T!" I cry.

Then suddenly everything is quiet. I look up. I'm in the castle halls again, except everything is grayer than usual. "Don't turn around." a voice says.

I obey, flinching a little. "Who are you?" I ask, tears still in my eyes.

"A friend. A good, good friend." the voice says. "Listen, daughter of the sky, you're the key. You're the key to saving the kingdoms. You're the key to setting us free."

"Please just go away." I whisper, my eyes threatening to water again. This is too much.

"As you wish." the voice says. "But I will see you again."

And I sit up in my bed, gasping and sweating.

* * *

**Song Title: Shooting Star**

**Artist: Owl City**

**Album Title: The Midsummer Station**

**Lyric that best fits this chapter: "Let your colors burn and brightly burst / Into a million sparks that all disperse / And illuminate a world that'll try to bring you down / But not this time"**

**Lyric that best fits this fic: "When the sun goes down / And the lights burn out / Then it's time for you to shine / Brighter than a shooting star / Shine no matter where you are / Tonight"**


	6. Immortals (Dipper)

CHAPTER FIVE

DIPPER

IMMORTALS

I rock back and forth, looking up at the sun rising in the sky. I barely slept at all, and can't remember anything I might have dreamt about. All I can think of is how quickly we can get to my sister.

I think back to my earliest memory- playing in the garden with Mabel. I think our parents had died by this point, but I'm not completely sure. We were playing hide-and-seek, and I came up with the _brilliant_ idea of hiding in the rosebush. Naturally, I was being far too stubborn and pushed my way to the center, getting poked with thorns the whole way in. I sat down and waited for Mabel to find me, but unbeknownst to my younger self, Mabel had already gone inside. An hour or so passed and I tried to get out, but the thorns seemed a lot sharper than before. So being a toddler at the time, I curled up and cried.

Only a few minutes later, Mabel came out again to get her shoes (she always used to leave those places) and heard me. "Dipper?" she had called, peeking through the leaves. Seeing me, she immediately pushed aside the thorns and pulled me out by the hand, sitting me down in the dirt. "S'okay, Dipper." she had said. "I found you."

"Took you too long." I muttered.

"I thought you'd hidden inside." Mabel explained. "Y'know, like a cheater."

"I'm _not_ a cheater!" I had yelled, then proceeded to wipe my eyes with my sleeve and look down at my shoes. "I thought you'd left me."

Mabel gave me a hug. "I'm not gonna leave, Dip, 'kay? I won't leave you, and you won't leave me."

I nod, smiling at my sister. "Issa deal."

I stare at the sun again, watching the light creep over the grass. "I'm not gonna leave, not this time." I whisper. "Not now, not ever."

* * *

Wendy and Pacifica wake up early again, but this time I'm up with them. "Did you sleep at all last night?" Pacifica asks me.

"Maybe a little." I say. "You?"

Wendy nods, but Pacifica stays silent. "We should get moving as fast as we can." Wendy says. "This road should lead to a nice little town, where we can get some horses to get along faster."

"You mean Greenhollow?" Pacifica asks, her eyes brightening. "I remember that place!"

"Really?" I ask, hoping to get a conversation going as we start packing up. "What'd you do there?"

"Oh, chased away a band of thieves, nothing much." Wendy shrugs, folding her tent. "But I think they all just liked Pacifica."

"I didn't do much." Pacifica shrugs, looking embarrassed.

"You got them to trust us, that's something." Wendy punches her in the shoulder, grinning. "You wouldn't believe how well Pas can tell a story to entertain kids."

"It was just a few stories around a campfire, stop overselling it." Pacifica groans.

"What? Am I the embarrassing Mom now?" Wendy laughs. "Suit yourself, but if we need a storyteller, I'm calling you in."

Pacifica sighs as Wendy walks away. "Yes, you are the embarrassing mom." she mutters under her breath, and I laugh. Wendy looks smug as she finishes packing up. "Come on, then, team." she says. "If we hurry, we can make it in two hours."

"So, you two ran away from home, too?" I ask, once again trying to get them to talk.

"I left with my parents' full knowledge and consent." Wendy informs me. "Pas is the one who ran away."

"So, don't you think your parents will worry about you?" I turn to her, but she looks away sharply.

"My parents don't give a crap about me." she shrugs. "Probably more worried about what deal they ended up breaking when I got out. By now they've probably forgotten I exist."

"It can't be _that_ bad." I say. "They probably miss you."

"And how would _you_ know?" Pacifica snaps. "Were you there? What do you know about my life?"

"Whoa! Whoa! I'm sorry, I-" I stutter, jumping back in shock. "I didn't mean, um-"

Pas glares at the ground, and I eventually recover from her outburst. I glare in the other direction, then maneuver towards Wendy. "So… how old are you again?"

Wendy shrugs. "I don't keep count. Probably sixteen or seventeen."

"You mean you don't celebrate birthdays?" I ask.

"Don't see the need, so long as I keep the decades intact. I can ask Dad next time I see him, he'll know." Wendy shrugs.

"Oh, well…" I guess I'm not that good at being a rogue like them. I instead look to the ground in silence, waiting for the point when we reach the village.

* * *

"We'll be there in about five minutes!" Wendy exclaims, pointing at a sign up ahead, reading "GREENHOLLOW, STRAIGHT AHEAD". "Just wait until we get there, Dipper! Their music festival should be going on right about now. It'll be complete fun all day!"

"And then at the end, someone'll be able to lend us a horse or two!" Pacifica finally speaks and smiles for the first time since I accidentally insulted her. "I can't wait to see the Village kids again!"

Wendy and Pacifica start sprinting ahead, and I have no choice but to run behind them. "I… can't… go… as fast as… you!" I shout as they go on.

"Keep up, then, slowpoke!" Wendy shouts at me, while Pacifica maintains her stony silence.

They run up ahead, only glancing back once or twice to make sure I'm still in view. My side hurts and my legs ache, but I try as hard as I can to keep up. "Slow down!" I call. "I'm not-"

Suddenly, they stop.

I almost run into them, spraying them with dirt as I skid behind them. "What is it?" I ask, then I see the horrified looks on their faces, and I take a guess.

"It's not-" I say, my voice barely a whisper, before I push past them and look ahead.

All I can see is smoke, and the ruins of a burned village.

**Song Title: Immortals**

**Artist: Fall Out Boy**

**Album Title: Big Hero 6 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)**

**Lyric that best fits this chapter: "Sometimes the only pay-off for having any faith / Is when it's tested again and again everyday / I'm still comparing your past to my future..."**

**Lyric that best fits this fic: "They say we are what we are / But we don't have to be / I'm bad behavior but I do it in the best way… We Could be Immortals"**


	7. Pompeii (Pacifica)

**(AN: I am SO sorry this is so late! A lot was happening, and I had to write this really fast. If you find any mistakes, please tell me! Next chapter will be on time, I promise!)**

CHAPTER SIX

POMPEII

PACIFICA

_No. _

I look ahead at the burned remains of what was once Greenhollow. I hear Dipper mumbling something behind me, but I can't tell what exactly he's saying. I stumble ahead slowly, looking over the rubble. _This shouldn't have happened. _I think. There should be a festival right now. With fun activities and happy villagers, not the destruction of an entire town. I stop only a little ways in, not wanting to go further, and find... I really don't want to find anything that'll tick me off more.

"Pas..." Wendy comes closer to me, gently putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Who..." I find it hard to speak, instead staring ahead at what was once a colorful village. "Who _did_ this?"

"Where are all the people?" Dipper asks, sounding almost as mortified as I am.

"Gone." Wendy says. "They'd be mad to stay here."

"But... why Greenhollow?" I ask.

"I don't know." Wendy responds after thinking for a bit. "It wasn't a particularly rich village, nor an important one. Perhaps someone offended..."

"Duck!" Dipper yells, and jumps at us, pushing us to the ground as an arrow flies by our heads.

I look up to see a group of knights with bows, firing in our direction. We're now hidden under a dirt mound, which satisfies Dipper, but not either of us girls. Beside me, Wendy leaps to her feet and pulls her bow out from over her shoulder and begins firing back at the knights. She jumps in front of us and ducks to dodge another volley of arrows, masterfully avoiding the onslaught upon her. She proceeds to run at the soldiers, leaping towards them and yelling incoherently. The horses become spooked and rear worriedly, sending the soldiers off-balance. While they struggle to maintain control, Wendy leaps on one of the horses and kicks the knight on it, leaving him sprawled on the ground. With that, she takes off, screaming, "Catch me if you can, suckers!"

The Knights waste no time in following her, riding off and leaving their fallen friend behind with us.

"Whoa." Dipper mouths, barely managing to form the words on his own. His eyes are wide as the moon, and reflect the amazement he feels in a pool of memory.

I smirk a little. _Looks like Wendy's got an admirer. _I climb up the mound and over to the soldier on the ground. He's still breathing, and might still be conscious. I kick him over onto his back, and he lets out an audible yell. _Yep. Definitely awake. _"Hey... Acorn! Get over here!"

It takes Dipper a second to register that I'm speaking to him, and he runs over. "Yeah?"

"Help me sit this guy up." I say, and try hoisting him up by one of his arms.

"Whatever you say, _Susan._" Dipper smirks and grabs the other arm.

I grit my teeth and pull the man backwards towards a pile of rubble, while Dipper struggles to keep up. We drop him against the pile, and I remove his helmet, letting his brown hair flop into his face. I quickly remove his quiver of arrows (his bow lay on the ground feet away). Dipper grabs his sword away from him and kicks it away.

The knight looks up at us, a little surprised. "You two are young." he manages to say.

"And you fired at us." I remind him, getting a better grip on my dagger in case he decides to attempt an escape. "You probably broke some bones in the fall, you can wait here until your buddies come back."

"Shouldn't be too long." he mumbles.

I snort. "Not with my friend. They'll probably be unconscious for a few hours then wake up roped together inside a tree, which will take them another few hours to escape, and then they'll have to find their horses and ride back here, which will take longer than it would to walk back, and they'll find their horses well taken care of and settled near a nice, quiet stream in the woods. By the time they ride back, if they do at all, it will be well into the night or maybe even the next morning. And you'll have no hope of tracking us by then."

The knight raises an eyebrow. "You have a very active imagination, young woman."

"Oh, it's not my imagination." I grin. "She's done it quite a few times."

The knight sighs, obviously not believing me, and turns to Dipper. "Can you keep your wife under control, sir, at the least?"

I draw my dagger slowly and start flipping it in my hands, staring down the knight while Dipper sputters awkwardly. "I am not his wife, nor anyone else's. I am my own person. But while we're waiting for our friend to return, _Acorn_, please get some rope from our camping supplies, not too far back, and tie him up so he can't wander off. And I will be asking you a few questions about this village, sir."

"I have a name." The knight responds.

"And I couldn't care less." I tell him, gesturing for Dipper to get moving, which he reluctantly does.

"It's not manly to take orders from a woman, unless she be the Queen." The knight mumbles.

"Really? I could've sworn there was something in the code of chivalry about helping women, children and the like, which I'm sure could involve a lot of ordering. And besides, I like giving people orders. Now-" I lean in closer, still holding my dagger carefully. "_What happened to Greenhollow?_"

The knight sighs. "Our king ordered that we travel to the border between here and the Kingdom of Gleeful, burning every village we pass until we come across a tower occupied by a Dragon and a Princess. We are to slay the Dragon and take the Princess back to our castle. We have no further orders than that, other than to leave a few men at each village to dispatch of any survivors."

I am suddenly glad Dipper is out of earshot, still searching the bags, or else he would very quickly give away his secret. "What a wonderful king you have." I respond, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "Which King would this be, exactly?"

"The one on the other side of the tower border, the King of Gleeful."

I sigh. Of course. "Gleeful." I mutter to myself. We should have wondered why our job offer was so close to the kidnapped princess. It in itself was probably a trap to get us to rescue the princess ourselves- we'd built up quite a reputation among the low criminals, who I'm sure the Gleeful royal family would associate with, seeing as how they burned villages like this. But why would they do this? Why not just attack head-on? Then I realize the answer. Anybody could witness what happened at the tower. They can't let news reach the castle, or the Pines Army could attack before they ever reached the tower. _They're destroying towns so that nobody can see them kidnap and kill the Princess of Pines. It's brilliant. _

_Too brilliant. _

"And what happened to the villagers of Greenhollow?" I ask, hoping that I'll be satisfied with the answer.

The knight rolls his eyes. "We can't have liabilities. Nobody can know what we're doing or where we're going or even that they're gone. So we killed a lot of them, and the rest are prisoners of war."

I kick on his leg, right in the broken bone. He lets out a howl of pain as I whip my dagger out and point it under his throat. "Where... are... they?" I demand, fury glinting in my eyes.

The man laughs, a cruel laugh I never want to hear again. "With the army. Trust me, we've been wanting to wage war on the Pines Kingdom for years. Those citizens will be _well taken care of._"

I want to slit his throat right there, but I stop myself and sheathe my dagger. "Acorn, get the heck over here!" I yell. "We're gonna tie him up and then we're gonna find out where our friend went."

_Where all of them went. _

**Song Title: Pompeii**

**Artist: Bastille**

**Album Title: Bad Blood**

**Lyric that best fits this chapter: "But if you close your eyes / Does it almost feel like / Nothing changed at all? / And if you close your eyes / Does it almost feel like / You've been here before?"**

**Lyric that best fits this fic: "We were caught up and lost in all of our vices... and the walls kept tumbling down in the city that we love / Great clouds roll over the hills, bringing darkness from above"**


	8. Enemy Fire (Wendy)

**(AN: I AM SO SO SO SO SORRY FOR THE UNEXPECTED HIATUS! I thought I would have time to post this two Fridays ago but we had to pack for Vacation and then I couldn't use the Laptop because my sister needed it for Lawyer Camp and I'm sorry! I'll try to do better next time. And On Top of the World readers, I know I left you on a huge cliffhanger, I'll update by next Friday.)**

CHAPTER SEVEN

ENEMY FIRE

WENDY

I laugh over my shoulder as the knights fire at me. "Try and catch me, suckers!" I yell, urging the horse to go faster. The horse obeys, and I wonder if the horse has any sort of loyalty to these knights.

Arrows fly over my head as the horse jumps over a log, and I catch one mid-air. Thinking fast, I knock it onto my bow and shoot it at a hornet's nest. The nest falls to the ground, and the horses behind me go wild with terror, turning around and fleeing in all directions. My horse just keeps sprinting, approaching a river.

"Whoa!" I yell upon seeing the body of water up ahead, and pull the reigns back. The horse rears and stomps, before leaping across the water. We manage to make it across, and he looks back at the hornets following the soldiers. A few knights skid to a halt on the other side of the river. They look down at the expanse of water, and I only now realize how large the river is. "How did you make _that _jump?" I whisper to the white stallion, who simply looks across the water as the knights turn around.

I assume they'll eventually come our way, so I turn to my horse. "What d'ya say we head downstream a bit before doubling back?"

The horse snorts.

"I'm gonna assume that's a yes." I say. "You don't happen to have any friends running wild, do you?"

The horse starts running down the river.

"Okay, not much of a conversationalist." I mutter. We continue running downstream, and I keep listening for signs of life. We finally reach a small, broken bridge across the water.

"Wanna try and brave it?" I ask. He doesn't respond, and I nudge her sides with my legs. "Go across the bridge!"

The horse starts moving across the rotting wood. "Okay, good, you know how to follow orders." I mutter. The bridge creaks beneath the stallion's hooves, and I start to wonder whether or not it'll hold our weight. Luckily enough, we make it across, and my horse jumps down.

"Good!" I say. "Now, we're gonna head back to the village now."

My horse looks up, annoyance clear in his eyes.

"Go home!" I order, and the horse starts heading in the right direction. At least, I think so. Now that I think of it, I'm not sure where the right direction is. We wander for a while until we reach a dark area of the forest, where the horse leans down and starts nibbling on the grass.

"No." I say, trying to urge the horse on. "Keep going."

The horse snorts and keeps eating.

"Stubborn little thing, aren't you?" I ask, and he snorts again.

Eventually, he keeps going and reaches the burnt village. I can only spot one soldier, but I keep a hand on a dagger handle just in case. "What's going on?" I ask, and the kids jump.

"Oh, um…" Dipper sputters.

"We captured a soldier!" Pas tells me, sounding very infuriated. "And he's a complete idiot!"

"I'm right here." the soldier mutters.

"Thank you for that delightful observation, but I really don't care." I say and jump off the horse. He gives his former rider an uncaring glance before nosing the ground for food.

"Traitor." the knight mumbles, glaring at the horse.

"Horse gotta name?" I ask.

"Number 2." he responds.

"Not calling him that for several reasons." I shrug. "Name ideas?"

"Tyrone!" Dipper shouts very quickly. I shoot him a look, and he rubs his arm. "Well, me and my sister got to name a newborn foal at… home, and she named it Skippers without my knowledge. I kinda wanted to call him that."

"Tyrone it is." I say. "Get on the horse."

* * *

We leave the soldier alone in the village and continue on. "Pas, what're we doing?" I ask.

"Well, he said that the villagers of Greenhollow were…. scattered, but we should definitely hurry to the tower." she explains.

"Why?" Dipper asks, suspiciously. He's on the back of the horse, and sounds very annoyed as well.

"Well… the army may be on the march to burn every village from here to the tower and then kidnap Mabel." Pacifica shrugs.

"And remind me why we _didn't_ kill that guy?" Dipper asks, gritting his teeth.

"We don't kill." I tell him. "Not unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Well, what're we gonna do?" Pas asks.

"Warn all the villages, get to Mabel, and figure out how to save the Alliance." I say. "We'll ride as far as we can today, and then I can show you a shortcut. We'll be ahead of the Knights by miles, even if they go all night!"

* * *

As I sleep that night, something odd happens.

I wake up underwater in the dream, and can breathe normally. I swim around, and then look up to realize I'm trapped under ice. _I didn't drown, did I?_ I think to myself.

"Afraid not." says a voice. "Daughter of the River, you must know one thing: don't trust the Dragon of Gold. The Dragon cannot be trusted."

_What Dragon? Mabel's Dragon? But he's been caring for her this whole time!_

"It doesn't matter. Even he doesn't know. But you can't trust the Dragon. Do not-"

_Wait._ I swim backwards in the water, suddenly terrified. _I know you!_

"No, Daughter of the River, whatever you think, I'm not-"

_Get away from me! Get away!_

"Daughter of-"

_Get AWAY!_

It fades to black. Suddenly, I can't remember who I was talking to or what we were talking about. All I can hear is a voice, a sweet, soothing voice that I've heard all my life.

_Sleep, my princess of the sea_

_May your dreams be kind_

_Let the mermaids guide you home_

_As I sing my lullaby_

_Far away, across the sea_

_I'd rather have you safe beside me_

_In three month's time, or tomorrow's eve_

_I just want you safe beside me_

_I don't ask for pearls or bags of gold_

_Or fabrics from a far-off land_

_I only want you safe beside me_

_So I can hold your hand_

_So I can hold your hand..._

* * *

**Song Title: Enemy Fire**

**Artist: Bea Miller**

**Album Title: Not an Apology**

**Lyric that best fits this chapter: "Who's a friend, who's an enemy / Cause sometimes they look the same to me / Looks can be pleasing, yet so deceiving / Sweet words from a serpent's tongue / It's like playing with a loaded gun / Who knows what truth is? / How do you prove it?"**

**Lyric that best fits this fic: "Burn a hole through the plastic crowd/ 'Cause I've been trying to find the way out / It's so confusing but never amusing / Sweet smiles in the aftermath / Turned to whispering behind my back / I need an ally to guard the night time / Someone to keep me from these crazies"**


	9. Strange Sight (Mabel)

CHAPTER EIGHT

STRANGE SIGHT

MABEL

I lay on her back, throwing my grappling hook into the air and watching it clatter to the ground. "Bored."

Will grunts and rolls over. "Bored." I yell again, watching the hook scatter a pile of gold. I reel the hook back in and throw it again. "BORED."

"Would you stop that already?" Will snaps, whipping his head at me and growling.

"But I'm _bored!_" I explain, once again reeling my hook in. "Nobody's come for, like, a week, which is good and all, but I have nothing to do!"

"You could knit some more." the dragon rolls his eyes.

"I already did that." I sigh. "I ran out of wool so I cut the bottom half of the dresses off to make more. It's like a shirt but really warm and stuff.

"Good for you." Will snorts. "Don't you have work or whatever?"

"Schoolwork? I finished it." That's kinda a lie, I got bored with it and burned it, but he doesn't have to know that.

"Books?"

"Read everything in my collection and yours. Twice."

The dragon groans. "What on earth do you plan on _doing,_ then?"

"Sit around and wait for Dipper to show up, while throwing my grappling hook into the air and watching it scatter treasure, expressing my boredom."

"You're impossible."

"And you're a dragon."

"That comeback doesn't even make _sense._"

"Yeah it does!"

"Sometimes you can be really annoying."

"And sometimes you can be a dragon."

"I am _always_ a dragon."

I cock my head and look at him closely. "How do I _know_ you're always a dragon?"

"Because I'm a freaking _dragon_!" Will growls and stands up, shaking gold out of his scales. "I'm going to go flying."

"What does it _feel like_?" I ask, flopping onto my back and looking at him upside-down.

"What does what feel like?"

"_Flying!_"

"You've flown before."

"Yeah but, I was gripping onto your claws for dear life, and kinda sick if you'll remember-"

"I remember." Will growls.

"And didn't really experience _flight._" I look up at him. "But you fly all the time."

The dragon looks at me curiously. "I suppose I do."

"Yeah, so how does it feel?"

Will appears to be considering something, and then smiles down at me. (At least, I think it's a smile. It's kinda hard to tell on his scaly face.) "Why don't you tell me, little human?"

"Huh?" I sit up. "I can't fly, 'member? That's why I'm asking!"

He kneels down. "Get on my back."

I widen my eyes and step back a bit, quite worried. "B-but you told me humans shouldn't be doing that! Remember? You're a 'mighty beast of fire and air, not a horse to be ridden on.'"

Will lets out a rocky laugh. "Think of it more of a piggy-back ride. A piggy-back ride that we're not making a regular thing."

I grin and let out a cheer, sliding down a mountain of gold. I'm not sure how to correctly get on a dragon, so I throw my grappling hook onto a ledge and swing up on it, letting go halfway through and falling onto Will's scales. I run up to his neck and throw my arms around it, holding tight.

"Ready?" Will asks. "You made it on, right? I can barely feel you."

"I'm ready!" I yell, "Let's go flying!"

"Alright," Will says, a hint of happiness in his voice I haven't heard before. "Hold on! No seriously, hold on, if you fall and die I'm not getting paid."

I let out a laugh, which quickly fades as Will races out of the tower and leaps into the air, spreading his wings to catch the breeze and soaring up into the clouds.

I hold on for dear life, terrified at first. We're so high, going so fast, I could slide off and Will wouldn't notice until I was squashed like a bug on the ground. The air is cold, and pushes against me, like the sky itself wants to chill me enough so I fall. I try to hold on, and shut my eyes tightly. This is terrifying. I'm going to die, I'm going to _die_.

Suddenly, the Dragon stops rising. He beats his wings, generating more chilly air. Then he moves forwards, more slowly and carefully. The air doesn't feel as cold as beforehand. I slowly open my eyes, and lean back on the dragon. I feel... _exhilarated_! The clouds pass me, and I try to move a hand to touch one, but I quickly return it, not wanting to lose my grip. The sky is a dark pink as the sun sets around us. I take a deep breath, and close my eyes, but not out of fear this time. I want to soak in the smell of cold air, the feel of the wind moving around me, surrounding me in a warm hug, even though the temperature is chilly. I want to feel the sun behind me, the only real warm thing up here, the beat of the Dragon's wings next to me, moving gracefully through the air like one would swim through a river. I want to always remember the feel of dragon scales under my fingers- they feel like a snake's, but harder and quite shinier. I can hear my own sharp, quick breathing in the air, as well as Will's deep, smoke-filled breaths. I squeeze my legs against the Dragon's body tightly, making sure I can really hold on. Then, I move one hand slowly- slowly! I reach out my shaking hand and run it through a cloud. Water droplets run into my hand and pass it at a quick speed, and I giggle as the water rolls over my hand, like a reverse rainfall, and passes behind me. My laugh is lost in the air, and all I can hear is the breeze ruffling my hair and my dress, giving us the possibility of flying and the gift of breathing. I put my hand back on the Dragon and look down. Strangely, even though I've had a fear of heights since I was twelve, I don't feel scared. Is it because I'm grasping onto a great dragon that I feel safer, or am I just more grown up than I think? It doesn't matter, because I can see all of the Kingdoms below me. The huge castles that are the pride of many Kingdoms are the size of mice below us, and the cottages are the bugs around them. Tiny rivers that barely appear in my view, they're so small, curve around the Kingdoms beneath me, dividing and joining. Mountains surrounding the kingdoms, mountains that nobody's dared cross through fear of the unknown, are small enough that I could stomp on them and crush them beneath my feet- that is, if I was really this big. Beyond the mountains are beautiful fields of green and yellow moving for miles, and if I squint, I can see castles and cottages in the distance. _Other kingdoms_. We thought we were alone in this world! None of us ever spared a thought to anyone living beyond the mountains, any sort of life beyond the mountains that hold us captive, but we never knew we had been contained. My eyes widen and I glance down at Will's neck, my fingers moving rapidly as they try to grasp onto something, anything. We're not the only kingdoms! Who knew?

"Enjoying the flight?" Will asks, his voice surrounding me in the wind.

"Yes!" I yell as hard as I can, smiling widely. "Did you know about the other people out here?"

"Course I did!" Will responds. "I've flown around the world before! It's round, did you know that? There are more people than you could ever count, more Kingdoms than you ever thought possible!"

I breathe deeply and let out a quiet "Whoa", which is lost to the wind.

"So, you tell me," the Dragon calls back. "How do you feel, flying?"

I look around me, at the endless world I could never explore all of, at the clouds passing by my head, at the sun setting behind me.

"I feel _alive_!"

We flow through the sky, whipping through the wind. Will lowers himself so he's barely above the trees, his feet brushing the leaves and branches. He goes a bit higher, so he can just barely look over the Alliance. I look down to my Kingdom, the Pines Kingdom, the Kingdom that I thought would be the entire world. The castle I was trapped in for years looks so small, so claustrophobic, and the houses around it like parasites.

Suddenly, I smell smoke. Smoke that _isn't_ from Will's dragon breath. I look down and see what looks like a small gray speck on the ground, smoke rising from it. "What's that?" I ask, my voice rising.

Will swoops down, growing closer to the ground. As we get closer, I see small support beams, and charred grounds around them. I gasp once I realize what this means. Will lands with a thump, and I catch my breath, then run across his back and slide down his tail, surveying the burned city. I run around the destruction, tripping and landing on my hands. I dig around in the rubble, hoping nobody's under it.

"Wha- What happened?" I ask, pulling out a charred doll, with a torn dress and the hair almost burned off.

"People usually only burn down houses, not entire cities." Will responds, nosing through what used to be a house. "Your species is strange."

"This can't have been on _purpose_." I respond, flipping the doll around in my hands. "Who would burn down an entire village of people _on purpose_?"

Will pauses, looking over at me. "Your land isn't being _invaded, _is it?"

"I... I don't think so." I respond. "I mean, I've been gone a while, anything can ha-"

Suddenly, knights jump out of the rubble and the surrounding forest, yelling and waving their weapons. I leap backwards and whip around, running at the surprised Dragon behind me. Someone grabs me from behind, so I drop to my knees and roll, feeling armour clank behind me. The grip loosens, and I jump up on my own, continuing to sprint at Will, who flaps his way over to me and holds out his tail. I grab onto it and shimmy up, running up his back and grab onto his neck. I look up to see Will breathing deeply, sparks shooting from his mouth. He backs up, swinging his tail to knock the knights down. He starts to fly, and then cranes his neck down at the village and flings his mouth open, releasing a burst of flame, once again firing up the city. The fire moves past me, but even so I feel warmer than I ever have before, and lean backwards, trying to get as far away as I can without letting go. After he finishes setting the village aflame again, he flies off towards his tower again, and the cold wind provides a help to the sudden heat surrounding me. I duck to avoid the smoke Will now generates at double speed, and I breathe deeply and keep my eyes shut.

Eventually, Will lands again, and I slide down the Dragon, looking ahead at the tower in front of me. I look up at him, but he avoids my gaze. "What... what happened?" I ask, tears on the edge of my eyes.

Will breathes out another stream of smoke, responding with only, "You are _definitely _being invaded."

**Song Title: Strange Sight**

**Artist: KT Tunstall**

**Album Title: Legend of the Neverbeast**

**Lyric that best fits this chapter: "You have a cold heart / You're reckless and distant / But I'll be persistent / I will understand you / Strange / How I'm drawn to the danger / I'll reach out my hand to you"**

**Lyric that best fits this fic: "If you're caught in the shadows and turned all around / Lost in the darkness, you will be found / If you hear my voice, follow the sound / 'Cause I'm here to guide you home"**


End file.
